A New Beginning: Design & Build from scratch...

croessler said:

My Journey Designing & Building from Scratch

For quite some time now I have wanted to build a piece of furniture from scratch. This is partly because I could not find any one plan that suited me and because there are SO MANY things I just don't know. Many folks like to "Prototype" or build mock-up's / models. I wanted something more and something quicker and less expensive. That is were my Sketchup journey began; I started by working through the tutorials, then asking a whole lot of questions. Several of the most vexing issues where answered right here on Lumberjocks. I.E. how to use that lovely tool called "Follow-Me". As a side note: It is well worth your time to learn that one…

Last week I started spending a little more time each night trying to learn the basics and working through some of the issues. After the "Follow-Me" questions my biggest issue was pulling the whole piece together; I could not seem to get everything in the same plane no matter how hard I tried. To call it annoying would be a huge understatement! Then I watched a video on the Wood Whisperer's site and it suddenly clicked (Thanks Marc!) . Create the whole thing upside down! then flip it upright.

I was finally able to put down on paper what had been rattling around inside my head for so long. I wanted something with nice clean lines, you know, uncomplicated….

This first view is just the table in general to show the basic lines; this design was heavily influenced by several different pieces I have seen over the years and what lumber I have on hand.

Next, a shot that, I hope, shows off the reveals and shadow lines.

This is a view of the beveled table top; it is 3/4" with a 1/4" edge remaining.

I picked up a 1/4" beading bit on clearance @ Woodcraft and played with it a little; this is my attempt at reproducing that edge detail.

I really want to produce everything for this desk myself. So, I designed the drawer pull and inserted it in the drawer face. What do you think? By the way getting it properly referenced on the face was very tedious.. Anyone have pointers on that front?

After getting the pull in place I thought I was done. Apparently my brain didn't think so! It just looked plain and incomplete (I literally stared at this drawing for an hour!). That's when the idea to add the leg beading popped into my head. It is situated to where the bottom of the beading is just at the line where the leg taper stops.

My next installment may be a little while as I now have to actually work with the wood. I don't own a power planer or jointer so this effort will be 70% Galoot style. Jointer Plane, Jack Plane, Smoother Planes coupled with my bandsaw, tablesaw & lathe. Should be fun!

The results to date just would not have been possible if not for the help all of you folks have provided so willingly. Thanks Everyone!

Click to expand...

croessler said:

My Journey Designing & Building from Scratch

For quite some time now I have wanted to build a piece of furniture from scratch. This is partly because I could not find any one plan that suited me and because there are SO MANY things I just don't know. Many folks like to "Prototype" or build mock-up's / models. I wanted something more and something quicker and less expensive. That is were my Sketchup journey began; I started by working through the tutorials, then asking a whole lot of questions. Several of the most vexing issues where answered right here on Lumberjocks. I.E. how to use that lovely tool called "Follow-Me". As a side note: It is well worth your time to learn that one…

Last week I started spending a little more time each night trying to learn the basics and working through some of the issues. After the "Follow-Me" questions my biggest issue was pulling the whole piece together; I could not seem to get everything in the same plane no matter how hard I tried. To call it annoying would be a huge understatement! Then I watched a video on the Wood Whisperer's site and it suddenly clicked (Thanks Marc!) . Create the whole thing upside down! then flip it upright.

I was finally able to put down on paper what had been rattling around inside my head for so long. I wanted something with nice clean lines, you know, uncomplicated….

This first view is just the table in general to show the basic lines; this design was heavily influenced by several different pieces I have seen over the years and what lumber I have on hand.

Next, a shot that, I hope, shows off the reveals and shadow lines.

This is a view of the beveled table top; it is 3/4" with a 1/4" edge remaining.

I picked up a 1/4" beading bit on clearance @ Woodcraft and played with it a little; this is my attempt at reproducing that edge detail.

I really want to produce everything for this desk myself. So, I designed the drawer pull and inserted it in the drawer face. What do you think? By the way getting it properly referenced on the face was very tedious.. Anyone have pointers on that front?

After getting the pull in place I thought I was done. Apparently my brain didn't think so! It just looked plain and incomplete (I literally stared at this drawing for an hour!). That's when the idea to add the leg beading popped into my head. It is situated to where the bottom of the beading is just at the line where the leg taper stops.

My next installment may be a little while as I now have to actually work with the wood. I don't own a power planer or jointer so this effort will be 70% Galoot style. Jointer Plane, Jack Plane, Smoother Planes coupled with my bandsaw, tablesaw & lathe. Should be fun!

The results to date just would not have been possible if not for the help all of you folks have provided so willingly. Thanks Everyone!

Click to expand...

croessler said:

My Journey Designing & Building from Scratch

For quite some time now I have wanted to build a piece of furniture from scratch. This is partly because I could not find any one plan that suited me and because there are SO MANY things I just don't know. Many folks like to "Prototype" or build mock-up's / models. I wanted something more and something quicker and less expensive. That is were my Sketchup journey began; I started by working through the tutorials, then asking a whole lot of questions. Several of the most vexing issues where answered right here on Lumberjocks. I.E. how to use that lovely tool called "Follow-Me". As a side note: It is well worth your time to learn that one…

Last week I started spending a little more time each night trying to learn the basics and working through some of the issues. After the "Follow-Me" questions my biggest issue was pulling the whole piece together; I could not seem to get everything in the same plane no matter how hard I tried. To call it annoying would be a huge understatement! Then I watched a video on the Wood Whisperer's site and it suddenly clicked (Thanks Marc!) . Create the whole thing upside down! then flip it upright.

I was finally able to put down on paper what had been rattling around inside my head for so long. I wanted something with nice clean lines, you know, uncomplicated….

This first view is just the table in general to show the basic lines; this design was heavily influenced by several different pieces I have seen over the years and what lumber I have on hand.

Next, a shot that, I hope, shows off the reveals and shadow lines.

This is a view of the beveled table top; it is 3/4" with a 1/4" edge remaining.

I picked up a 1/4" beading bit on clearance @ Woodcraft and played with it a little; this is my attempt at reproducing that edge detail.

I really want to produce everything for this desk myself. So, I designed the drawer pull and inserted it in the drawer face. What do you think? By the way getting it properly referenced on the face was very tedious.. Anyone have pointers on that front?

After getting the pull in place I thought I was done. Apparently my brain didn't think so! It just looked plain and incomplete (I literally stared at this drawing for an hour!). That's when the idea to add the leg beading popped into my head. It is situated to where the bottom of the beading is just at the line where the leg taper stops.

My next installment may be a little while as I now have to actually work with the wood. I don't own a power planer or jointer so this effort will be 70% Galoot style. Jointer Plane, Jack Plane, Smoother Planes coupled with my bandsaw, tablesaw & lathe. Should be fun!

The results to date just would not have been possible if not for the help all of you folks have provided so willingly. Thanks Everyone!

Click to expand...

croessler said:

My Journey Designing & Building from Scratch

For quite some time now I have wanted to build a piece of furniture from scratch. This is partly because I could not find any one plan that suited me and because there are SO MANY things I just don't know. Many folks like to "Prototype" or build mock-up's / models. I wanted something more and something quicker and less expensive. That is were my Sketchup journey began; I started by working through the tutorials, then asking a whole lot of questions. Several of the most vexing issues where answered right here on Lumberjocks. I.E. how to use that lovely tool called "Follow-Me". As a side note: It is well worth your time to learn that one…

Last week I started spending a little more time each night trying to learn the basics and working through some of the issues. After the "Follow-Me" questions my biggest issue was pulling the whole piece together; I could not seem to get everything in the same plane no matter how hard I tried. To call it annoying would be a huge understatement! Then I watched a video on the Wood Whisperer's site and it suddenly clicked (Thanks Marc!) . Create the whole thing upside down! then flip it upright.

I was finally able to put down on paper what had been rattling around inside my head for so long. I wanted something with nice clean lines, you know, uncomplicated….

This first view is just the table in general to show the basic lines; this design was heavily influenced by several different pieces I have seen over the years and what lumber I have on hand.

Next, a shot that, I hope, shows off the reveals and shadow lines.

This is a view of the beveled table top; it is 3/4" with a 1/4" edge remaining.

I picked up a 1/4" beading bit on clearance @ Woodcraft and played with it a little; this is my attempt at reproducing that edge detail.

I really want to produce everything for this desk myself. So, I designed the drawer pull and inserted it in the drawer face. What do you think? By the way getting it properly referenced on the face was very tedious.. Anyone have pointers on that front?

After getting the pull in place I thought I was done. Apparently my brain didn't think so! It just looked plain and incomplete (I literally stared at this drawing for an hour!). That's when the idea to add the leg beading popped into my head. It is situated to where the bottom of the beading is just at the line where the leg taper stops.

My next installment may be a little while as I now have to actually work with the wood. I don't own a power planer or jointer so this effort will be 70% Galoot style. Jointer Plane, Jack Plane, Smoother Planes coupled with my bandsaw, tablesaw & lathe. Should be fun!

The results to date just would not have been possible if not for the help all of you folks have provided so willingly. Thanks Everyone!

Click to expand...

croessler said:

My Journey Designing & Building from Scratch

For quite some time now I have wanted to build a piece of furniture from scratch. This is partly because I could not find any one plan that suited me and because there are SO MANY things I just don't know. Many folks like to "Prototype" or build mock-up's / models. I wanted something more and something quicker and less expensive. That is were my Sketchup journey began; I started by working through the tutorials, then asking a whole lot of questions. Several of the most vexing issues where answered right here on Lumberjocks. I.E. how to use that lovely tool called "Follow-Me". As a side note: It is well worth your time to learn that one…

Last week I started spending a little more time each night trying to learn the basics and working through some of the issues. After the "Follow-Me" questions my biggest issue was pulling the whole piece together; I could not seem to get everything in the same plane no matter how hard I tried. To call it annoying would be a huge understatement! Then I watched a video on the Wood Whisperer's site and it suddenly clicked (Thanks Marc!) . Create the whole thing upside down! then flip it upright.

I was finally able to put down on paper what had been rattling around inside my head for so long. I wanted something with nice clean lines, you know, uncomplicated….

This first view is just the table in general to show the basic lines; this design was heavily influenced by several different pieces I have seen over the years and what lumber I have on hand.

Next, a shot that, I hope, shows off the reveals and shadow lines.

This is a view of the beveled table top; it is 3/4" with a 1/4" edge remaining.

I picked up a 1/4" beading bit on clearance @ Woodcraft and played with it a little; this is my attempt at reproducing that edge detail.

I really want to produce everything for this desk myself. So, I designed the drawer pull and inserted it in the drawer face. What do you think? By the way getting it properly referenced on the face was very tedious.. Anyone have pointers on that front?

After getting the pull in place I thought I was done. Apparently my brain didn't think so! It just looked plain and incomplete (I literally stared at this drawing for an hour!). That's when the idea to add the leg beading popped into my head. It is situated to where the bottom of the beading is just at the line where the leg taper stops.

My next installment may be a little while as I now have to actually work with the wood. I don't own a power planer or jointer so this effort will be 70% Galoot style. Jointer Plane, Jack Plane, Smoother Planes coupled with my bandsaw, tablesaw & lathe. Should be fun!

The results to date just would not have been possible if not for the help all of you folks have provided so willingly. Thanks Everyone!

Click to expand...

croessler said:

My Journey Designing & Building from Scratch

For quite some time now I have wanted to build a piece of furniture from scratch. This is partly because I could not find any one plan that suited me and because there are SO MANY things I just don't know. Many folks like to "Prototype" or build mock-up's / models. I wanted something more and something quicker and less expensive. That is were my Sketchup journey began; I started by working through the tutorials, then asking a whole lot of questions. Several of the most vexing issues where answered right here on Lumberjocks. I.E. how to use that lovely tool called "Follow-Me". As a side note: It is well worth your time to learn that one…

Last week I started spending a little more time each night trying to learn the basics and working through some of the issues. After the "Follow-Me" questions my biggest issue was pulling the whole piece together; I could not seem to get everything in the same plane no matter how hard I tried. To call it annoying would be a huge understatement! Then I watched a video on the Wood Whisperer's site and it suddenly clicked (Thanks Marc!) . Create the whole thing upside down! then flip it upright.

I was finally able to put down on paper what had been rattling around inside my head for so long. I wanted something with nice clean lines, you know, uncomplicated….

This first view is just the table in general to show the basic lines; this design was heavily influenced by several different pieces I have seen over the years and what lumber I have on hand.

Next, a shot that, I hope, shows off the reveals and shadow lines.

This is a view of the beveled table top; it is 3/4" with a 1/4" edge remaining.

I picked up a 1/4" beading bit on clearance @ Woodcraft and played with it a little; this is my attempt at reproducing that edge detail.

I really want to produce everything for this desk myself. So, I designed the drawer pull and inserted it in the drawer face. What do you think? By the way getting it properly referenced on the face was very tedious.. Anyone have pointers on that front?

After getting the pull in place I thought I was done. Apparently my brain didn't think so! It just looked plain and incomplete (I literally stared at this drawing for an hour!). That's when the idea to add the leg beading popped into my head. It is situated to where the bottom of the beading is just at the line where the leg taper stops.

My next installment may be a little while as I now have to actually work with the wood. I don't own a power planer or jointer so this effort will be 70% Galoot style. Jointer Plane, Jack Plane, Smoother Planes coupled with my bandsaw, tablesaw & lathe. Should be fun!

The results to date just would not have been possible if not for the help all of you folks have provided so willingly. Thanks Everyone!

Click to expand...

croessler said:

My Journey Designing & Building from Scratch

For quite some time now I have wanted to build a piece of furniture from scratch. This is partly because I could not find any one plan that suited me and because there are SO MANY things I just don't know. Many folks like to "Prototype" or build mock-up's / models. I wanted something more and something quicker and less expensive. That is were my Sketchup journey began; I started by working through the tutorials, then asking a whole lot of questions. Several of the most vexing issues where answered right here on Lumberjocks. I.E. how to use that lovely tool called "Follow-Me". As a side note: It is well worth your time to learn that one…

Last week I started spending a little more time each night trying to learn the basics and working through some of the issues. After the "Follow-Me" questions my biggest issue was pulling the whole piece together; I could not seem to get everything in the same plane no matter how hard I tried. To call it annoying would be a huge understatement! Then I watched a video on the Wood Whisperer's site and it suddenly clicked (Thanks Marc!) . Create the whole thing upside down! then flip it upright.

I was finally able to put down on paper what had been rattling around inside my head for so long. I wanted something with nice clean lines, you know, uncomplicated….

This first view is just the table in general to show the basic lines; this design was heavily influenced by several different pieces I have seen over the years and what lumber I have on hand.

Next, a shot that, I hope, shows off the reveals and shadow lines.

This is a view of the beveled table top; it is 3/4" with a 1/4" edge remaining.

I picked up a 1/4" beading bit on clearance @ Woodcraft and played with it a little; this is my attempt at reproducing that edge detail.

I really want to produce everything for this desk myself. So, I designed the drawer pull and inserted it in the drawer face. What do you think? By the way getting it properly referenced on the face was very tedious.. Anyone have pointers on that front?

After getting the pull in place I thought I was done. Apparently my brain didn't think so! It just looked plain and incomplete (I literally stared at this drawing for an hour!). That's when the idea to add the leg beading popped into my head. It is situated to where the bottom of the beading is just at the line where the leg taper stops.

My next installment may be a little while as I now have to actually work with the wood. I don't own a power planer or jointer so this effort will be 70% Galoot style. Jointer Plane, Jack Plane, Smoother Planes coupled with my bandsaw, tablesaw & lathe. Should be fun!

The results to date just would not have been possible if not for the help all of you folks have provided so willingly. Thanks Everyone!

Click to expand...

croessler said:

My Journey Designing & Building from Scratch

For quite some time now I have wanted to build a piece of furniture from scratch. This is partly because I could not find any one plan that suited me and because there are SO MANY things I just don't know. Many folks like to "Prototype" or build mock-up's / models. I wanted something more and something quicker and less expensive. That is were my Sketchup journey began; I started by working through the tutorials, then asking a whole lot of questions. Several of the most vexing issues where answered right here on Lumberjocks. I.E. how to use that lovely tool called "Follow-Me". As a side note: It is well worth your time to learn that one…

Last week I started spending a little more time each night trying to learn the basics and working through some of the issues. After the "Follow-Me" questions my biggest issue was pulling the whole piece together; I could not seem to get everything in the same plane no matter how hard I tried. To call it annoying would be a huge understatement! Then I watched a video on the Wood Whisperer's site and it suddenly clicked (Thanks Marc!) . Create the whole thing upside down! then flip it upright.

I was finally able to put down on paper what had been rattling around inside my head for so long. I wanted something with nice clean lines, you know, uncomplicated….

This first view is just the table in general to show the basic lines; this design was heavily influenced by several different pieces I have seen over the years and what lumber I have on hand.

Next, a shot that, I hope, shows off the reveals and shadow lines.

This is a view of the beveled table top; it is 3/4" with a 1/4" edge remaining.

I picked up a 1/4" beading bit on clearance @ Woodcraft and played with it a little; this is my attempt at reproducing that edge detail.

I really want to produce everything for this desk myself. So, I designed the drawer pull and inserted it in the drawer face. What do you think? By the way getting it properly referenced on the face was very tedious.. Anyone have pointers on that front?

After getting the pull in place I thought I was done. Apparently my brain didn't think so! It just looked plain and incomplete (I literally stared at this drawing for an hour!). That's when the idea to add the leg beading popped into my head. It is situated to where the bottom of the beading is just at the line where the leg taper stops.

My next installment may be a little while as I now have to actually work with the wood. I don't own a power planer or jointer so this effort will be 70% Galoot style. Jointer Plane, Jack Plane, Smoother Planes coupled with my bandsaw, tablesaw & lathe. Should be fun!

The results to date just would not have been possible if not for the help all of you folks have provided so willingly. Thanks Everyone!

Click to expand...

croessler said:

My Journey Designing & Building from Scratch

For quite some time now I have wanted to build a piece of furniture from scratch. This is partly because I could not find any one plan that suited me and because there are SO MANY things I just don't know. Many folks like to "Prototype" or build mock-up's / models. I wanted something more and something quicker and less expensive. That is were my Sketchup journey began; I started by working through the tutorials, then asking a whole lot of questions. Several of the most vexing issues where answered right here on Lumberjocks. I.E. how to use that lovely tool called "Follow-Me". As a side note: It is well worth your time to learn that one…

Last week I started spending a little more time each night trying to learn the basics and working through some of the issues. After the "Follow-Me" questions my biggest issue was pulling the whole piece together; I could not seem to get everything in the same plane no matter how hard I tried. To call it annoying would be a huge understatement! Then I watched a video on the Wood Whisperer's site and it suddenly clicked (Thanks Marc!) . Create the whole thing upside down! then flip it upright.

I was finally able to put down on paper what had been rattling around inside my head for so long. I wanted something with nice clean lines, you know, uncomplicated….

This first view is just the table in general to show the basic lines; this design was heavily influenced by several different pieces I have seen over the years and what lumber I have on hand.

Next, a shot that, I hope, shows off the reveals and shadow lines.

This is a view of the beveled table top; it is 3/4" with a 1/4" edge remaining.

I picked up a 1/4" beading bit on clearance @ Woodcraft and played with it a little; this is my attempt at reproducing that edge detail.

I really want to produce everything for this desk myself. So, I designed the drawer pull and inserted it in the drawer face. What do you think? By the way getting it properly referenced on the face was very tedious.. Anyone have pointers on that front?

After getting the pull in place I thought I was done. Apparently my brain didn't think so! It just looked plain and incomplete (I literally stared at this drawing for an hour!). That's when the idea to add the leg beading popped into my head. It is situated to where the bottom of the beading is just at the line where the leg taper stops.

My next installment may be a little while as I now have to actually work with the wood. I don't own a power planer or jointer so this effort will be 70% Galoot style. Jointer Plane, Jack Plane, Smoother Planes coupled with my bandsaw, tablesaw & lathe. Should be fun!

The results to date just would not have been possible if not for the help all of you folks have provided so willingly. Thanks Everyone!

Click to expand...

croessler said:

Just being a Galoot.......

So, yesterday afternoon I started really working on the project. I had ~10BdFt of 8/4 White Oak on hand so I rough cut it to length on the table saw then started flattening the faces and jointing the edges. When it's about 90 - 95 Degree's(f) and 90% humidity it can make for quite a workout & weight loss program. I have the blanks for the aprons and legs ready to to re-saw on the Bandsaw. There is no way I would try that by hand with a rip saw; I'm not the twisted!

A flattening we will go, A flattening we will go…..

How square is that edge?

About that square!

Stop to cleanup, then keep going…..

Of course this is the VERY much shortened version of this effort I'll update again as it all progresses. For now it's just me and my planes (oh, and bandsaw).

Click to expand...

croessler said:

The Top - It has a story of it's own

I actually glued up the top more than a year ago from some old growth Oak that I had salvaged. Therein lies the story; not long after my wife and I were married and moved into our house we were offered an old upright Piano for free. My wife was a voice major in college and of course jumped at the opportunity. All I had to do was drive up to Jekyll Island Georgia to retrieve it; however that was easier said than done. Have you ever seen one of those huge old uprights? This Piano had Mfg. date on the sound board of 1903. This thing was about 5' 6" high by ~6' long and boy was it heavy (took six people to move it) but it sure was pretty.

It was old growth oak veneered with amazing tiger striped Oak; the keys were actual Ebony and Ivory. Well, you get the picture. Fast forward a few years and it's 2004; we suffer the painful loss of our house and all the contents in a fire. The piano was badly scorched and completely ruined with water damage. Two days before demolition began I went back into the wreckage of our home and recovered as much of the old growth Oak as I could. It was just me, the soot, lots of mold & mildew and a few hand tools. some of it was single pieces and some were glued up panels from different parts of the instrument; such as the lid. I let them dry out at my parents house for several months then planed the scorched veneer off and found the most beautiful fine grained Oak I've ever seen. It has worm holes in a couple of places and other "character" marks. I went ahead an glued it up into a large panel waiting for the right use. My wife will get this desk to use for her sewing and crafts and to remember what we have both lost and gained.

Click to expand...

croessler said:

The Top - It has a story of it's own

I actually glued up the top more than a year ago from some old growth Oak that I had salvaged. Therein lies the story; not long after my wife and I were married and moved into our house we were offered an old upright Piano for free. My wife was a voice major in college and of course jumped at the opportunity. All I had to do was drive up to Jekyll Island Georgia to retrieve it; however that was easier said than done. Have you ever seen one of those huge old uprights? This Piano had Mfg. date on the sound board of 1903. This thing was about 5' 6" high by ~6' long and boy was it heavy (took six people to move it) but it sure was pretty.

It was old growth oak veneered with amazing tiger striped Oak; the keys were actual Ebony and Ivory. Well, you get the picture. Fast forward a few years and it's 2004; we suffer the painful loss of our house and all the contents in a fire. The piano was badly scorched and completely ruined with water damage. Two days before demolition began I went back into the wreckage of our home and recovered as much of the old growth Oak as I could. It was just me, the soot, lots of mold & mildew and a few hand tools. some of it was single pieces and some were glued up panels from different parts of the instrument; such as the lid. I let them dry out at my parents house for several months then planed the scorched veneer off and found the most beautiful fine grained Oak I've ever seen. It has worm holes in a couple of places and other "character" marks. I went ahead an glued it up into a large panel waiting for the right use. My wife will get this desk to use for her sewing and crafts and to remember what we have both lost and gained.

Click to expand...

croessler said:

The Top - It has a story of it's own

I actually glued up the top more than a year ago from some old growth Oak that I had salvaged. Therein lies the story; not long after my wife and I were married and moved into our house we were offered an old upright Piano for free. My wife was a voice major in college and of course jumped at the opportunity. All I had to do was drive up to Jekyll Island Georgia to retrieve it; however that was easier said than done. Have you ever seen one of those huge old uprights? This Piano had Mfg. date on the sound board of 1903. This thing was about 5' 6" high by ~6' long and boy was it heavy (took six people to move it) but it sure was pretty.

It was old growth oak veneered with amazing tiger striped Oak; the keys were actual Ebony and Ivory. Well, you get the picture. Fast forward a few years and it's 2004; we suffer the painful loss of our house and all the contents in a fire. The piano was badly scorched and completely ruined with water damage. Two days before demolition began I went back into the wreckage of our home and recovered as much of the old growth Oak as I could. It was just me, the soot, lots of mold & mildew and a few hand tools. some of it was single pieces and some were glued up panels from different parts of the instrument; such as the lid. I let them dry out at my parents house for several months then planed the scorched veneer off and found the most beautiful fine grained Oak I've ever seen. It has worm holes in a couple of places and other "character" marks. I went ahead an glued it up into a large panel waiting for the right use. My wife will get this desk to use for her sewing and crafts and to remember what we have both lost and gained.

Click to expand...

croessler said:

The Top - It has a story of it's own

I actually glued up the top more than a year ago from some old growth Oak that I had salvaged. Therein lies the story; not long after my wife and I were married and moved into our house we were offered an old upright Piano for free. My wife was a voice major in college and of course jumped at the opportunity. All I had to do was drive up to Jekyll Island Georgia to retrieve it; however that was easier said than done. Have you ever seen one of those huge old uprights? This Piano had Mfg. date on the sound board of 1903. This thing was about 5' 6" high by ~6' long and boy was it heavy (took six people to move it) but it sure was pretty.

It was old growth oak veneered with amazing tiger striped Oak; the keys were actual Ebony and Ivory. Well, you get the picture. Fast forward a few years and it's 2004; we suffer the painful loss of our house and all the contents in a fire. The piano was badly scorched and completely ruined with water damage. Two days before demolition began I went back into the wreckage of our home and recovered as much of the old growth Oak as I could. It was just me, the soot, lots of mold & mildew and a few hand tools. some of it was single pieces and some were glued up panels from different parts of the instrument; such as the lid. I let them dry out at my parents house for several months then planed the scorched veneer off and found the most beautiful fine grained Oak I've ever seen. It has worm holes in a couple of places and other "character" marks. I went ahead an glued it up into a large panel waiting for the right use. My wife will get this desk to use for her sewing and crafts and to remember what we have both lost and gained.

Click to expand...

croessler said:

The Top - It has a story of it's own

I actually glued up the top more than a year ago from some old growth Oak that I had salvaged. Therein lies the story; not long after my wife and I were married and moved into our house we were offered an old upright Piano for free. My wife was a voice major in college and of course jumped at the opportunity. All I had to do was drive up to Jekyll Island Georgia to retrieve it; however that was easier said than done. Have you ever seen one of those huge old uprights? This Piano had Mfg. date on the sound board of 1903. This thing was about 5' 6" high by ~6' long and boy was it heavy (took six people to move it) but it sure was pretty.

It was old growth oak veneered with amazing tiger striped Oak; the keys were actual Ebony and Ivory. Well, you get the picture. Fast forward a few years and it's 2004; we suffer the painful loss of our house and all the contents in a fire. The piano was badly scorched and completely ruined with water damage. Two days before demolition began I went back into the wreckage of our home and recovered as much of the old growth Oak as I could. It was just me, the soot, lots of mold & mildew and a few hand tools. some of it was single pieces and some were glued up panels from different parts of the instrument; such as the lid. I let them dry out at my parents house for several months then planed the scorched veneer off and found the most beautiful fine grained Oak I've ever seen. It has worm holes in a couple of places and other "character" marks. I went ahead an glued it up into a large panel waiting for the right use. My wife will get this desk to use for her sewing and crafts and to remember what we have both lost and gained.

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